Communication vs Journalism degree?

bearcatfan
Fri, 09 Dec 2016 11:04:46 +0000

Caveat: I graduated from a top journalism program in 1988 (ancient history, I know!) with degrees in newspaper and political science.

From my experience, it is easier to get a job in journalism if you have a journalism degree. It is harder to use a communications degree to get a journalism job - not impossible, but as competitive as things are today that might be one way to wade through applications.

It often comes down to your internships and clips. At my school, the best opportunities were reserved for and offered to the j-school students. We covered the presidential primary in New Hampshire, the two local dailies hired us for night cops (a huge deal at that time), and we had professors who had “been there, done that” in the real world and still had connections.

You’d have to sit down and compare the programs, not only with the classes offered but the experiences as well. And, as always, it is up to you to spend your summers working at publications to get clips. I always had paying internships, but those have dried up except for some of the top programs (which, again, might require being in a j-program).

Journalism is not just focused on writing, but it certainly is the backbone of any kind of program whether you decide on broadcast or print. Photography is often its own major (but again, things might have changed and it depends on the program - I never took a single photography class, which I regret).

And … make sure you want it, and research the career prospects. Newspapers, at least, are cutting their staffs left and right and even closing. Same for magazines. Journalism anymore goes beyond reporting and writing, and often includes a social media component as well (which will likely not be a problem for your generation).

Good luck - I’ll answer any additional questions if you have any.